Friday, June 10, 2005
Cubs vs Red Sox
The match-up everyone but Yankees fans wanted for the 2003 World Series (before both the Cubs and Red Sox blew leads in the games that would have put them in the series) is set to tee off this weekend thanks to Major League Baseball interleague play.
Some of the compelling nature of this match-up has been diminished as a result of the Red Sox championship. Despite having long championship droughts in common, and lore of a "curse," (in the case of the Red Sox, the curse of the Bambino, levied by the baseball gods as punishment for the selling of Babe Ruth; in the case of the Cubs, the curse of the Billy Goat, actual voodoo practiced against the team by an irate broadcaster whose pet goat was refused entry to the 1945 World Series, despite having a valid ticket) these team's fortunes have followed very different paths.
The Red Sox have tended to be an annual contender, even when thwarted by the Yankees, and have made periodic appearances in the World Series. The Cubs, meanwhile, have been a team mired in utter futility year after year. They've had their share of stars over the years, but their seasons of winning baseball in the past thirty five years can be counted on two hands, and they have made only four post season appearances in 60 years, failing to reach the World Series in any of them. More often, they enter the season with promise, but go through a June swoon and are out of the race by the All-Star break.
There are some who seem to feel that the Red Sox World Championship has somehow cleared the way for a Cubs championship, and it is certainly conceivable, given the pitching that could be at the Cubs disposal (although their top two arms, Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, are both on the disabled list where they each spent much of last season as well).
There are others who have a different point of view, seeing the Red Sox championship as final vindication of what most Cubs fans have known all along:
OUR CURSE IS WORSE.
Some of the compelling nature of this match-up has been diminished as a result of the Red Sox championship. Despite having long championship droughts in common, and lore of a "curse," (in the case of the Red Sox, the curse of the Bambino, levied by the baseball gods as punishment for the selling of Babe Ruth; in the case of the Cubs, the curse of the Billy Goat, actual voodoo practiced against the team by an irate broadcaster whose pet goat was refused entry to the 1945 World Series, despite having a valid ticket) these team's fortunes have followed very different paths.
The Red Sox have tended to be an annual contender, even when thwarted by the Yankees, and have made periodic appearances in the World Series. The Cubs, meanwhile, have been a team mired in utter futility year after year. They've had their share of stars over the years, but their seasons of winning baseball in the past thirty five years can be counted on two hands, and they have made only four post season appearances in 60 years, failing to reach the World Series in any of them. More often, they enter the season with promise, but go through a June swoon and are out of the race by the All-Star break.
There are some who seem to feel that the Red Sox World Championship has somehow cleared the way for a Cubs championship, and it is certainly conceivable, given the pitching that could be at the Cubs disposal (although their top two arms, Kerry Wood and Mark Prior, are both on the disabled list where they each spent much of last season as well).
There are others who have a different point of view, seeing the Red Sox championship as final vindication of what most Cubs fans have known all along:
OUR CURSE IS WORSE.
1 Comments:
By 
, at
Fri Jun 10, 10:45:00 AM:
Not quite,
60 years ago this year the Cubs played the Tigers in the 1945 World Series, losing 3 games to 4.
Scott @ POV
